Suction cleaner



E. F. MARTINET SUCTION CLEANER Aug. 2l 1934.

Filed April l0, 1931 Mkb/ei v Patented du.. El, ii-

lht'ididtiil SlUiE'll'lQN lit Eugene lli'. Martinet, flleveland, diria, zw, i

rihe l. d.. Geier Emmy, Eleve, @hier a corporation of @hilo applicants ama it, ion, serai nu. ,trarre it c., (ci. 11a-rai 'The invention relates to suction cleaners and more particularly to the smaller sizes of the.

same, commonly called hand cleaners, which are sumciently light enough in weight that they may i be conveniently carried by an operator, in one hand, and so used for cleaning or dusting draperies, curtains, blankets, mattresses, pillows, walls,

` furniture, upholstery, pictures, higly polished surfaces, and the like. l@ A serious objection to the hand type cleaner is that the usual hard metal Wall of the fan and/or motor housing contacts with the 'surf ace on which the machine is laid, or over which the machine is operating. Thus, when such a cleaner is used w for dusting highly polished surfaces and the like, or when the cleaner is used in the vicinity of the same, such surfaces frequently are scratched, marred or dented by the hard metal walls.

Accordingly it is an object of the present in vention to provide a soft, non-abrasive, yielding guard or foot-rest member for a hand cleaner, which supports or maintains the metal parts' of the same in spaced relation from the surface hen ing cleaned, or upon which the cleaner is laid, for

preventing the cleaner from scratching or marring such surfaces.

A hand cleaner usually is electrically operated and accordingly is equipped with a power supply wire cord which leads through the metal motor mi housing Wall to the motor therein. It ls therefore necessary to supplement the cord insulation with an insulating bushing for the opening in the metal motor housing Athrough which the cord passes.

iid

that lt cannot be pulled or jerked loose from the motor connections therefor, during use, as when the cord extending to a power socket is snagged or caught on a piece of furniture or the like.

Also, it is desirable if not necessary to prevent the cord from being sharply bent or flexed during use,.at or adjacent the place where it passes through the motor housing, to avoid damage or injury to the cord at that place.

` M And nally, it is essential to manufacture hand cleaners as' simply, and inexpensively as possible,

so that the cleaners will have a very low selling price to the purchaser.

It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a hand oleane'.` with a combined one-piece foot-rest and cord anchor, guard and insulating bushing member made of a. homogeneous, insulating, wear-resisting, non-abrasive, soft, resilient, yielding material.

N The nozzle of a hand cleaner is usually formed Moreover, it is desirable to anchor the cord so of al :mi cast integrally with thefan housing thereof. Such a metal nozzle during use frequently scratches, mars, or dents a highly polished surface, which is being cleaned or dusted by the cleaner, and may dage upholstery by use of a metal nozzle directly thereon.

Moreover, it has been found that aluminum is charactermed by the fact that it rubs od on light colored fabrics or the lilre by contact therewith and produces stains, streaks or spots thereon. 55 Thus, when a hand cleaner having an aluminum nozzle is used for olea light colored curtains, it frequently leaves dart: discolorations thereon, in being passed baci; and forth over 'the fabric.

Accordingly, it is a further object of the present mi invention to provide a hand cleaner with a nozzle de of a homogeneous, Wear-resisting, nonabrasive, soft, resilient, yielding material to avoid scratching highly polished surfaces being cleaned, to avoid staining, streaking or spotting light 755 colored materials being cleaned, and to avoid damage to upholstery and the lilre.

These and other .objects y be attained by provig a construction, a preferred embodiment of which is hereter described in detail and shown in the drawing', which may be stated 'n general terms as including a suction cleaner havn ing a motor and metal motor housing, and a fan and metal fan housing, a nozzle member made of a non-abrasive, wear-resisting, soft, yielding ma- 85 terial preferably rubber, connected to the metal fan housing,l and a combined one-piece foot-rest and cord anchor, guard and insulating bushing member made of an insulating, non-abrasive, wear-resisting, soft, yielding material also pref- ,W erably rubber, connected to the metal 'motor housing..

In the drawing, Figure l is a side elevation partly in section of a hand type suction cleaner embodying the present improvements; 95

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the improved combined onepiece foot-rest and cord anchor, guard and insulating bushing, showing the manner of assembling the same in connection with vthe motor housing;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the improved foot-rest assembled in connection with the motor housing; and

Fig. d is a section through the nozzle lip walls talren on the line il-Jl, Fig. l.

Similar numerals refer to j similar parts throughout the various figures of the drawing.

A hand type suction cleaner is shown in Fig.

l, which includes walls forming a motor housl for 1m tor t, and walls forming the u@ fan housing 6. A fan 'Z is mounted for rotation within the fan housing 6 on the shaft of the motor 5. Rotation of the fan 7 causes air cur rents to be drawn into the nozzle 8, and into the chamber formed by thefan housing d, the air currents then being exhausted through the fan chamber exhaust outlet 9 and into and through the dust bag 10, which y be provided with an opening, closed by any suitable *me 11, for emptying the contents of the bag there= through.

The motor housing e and fan housing d preierably constitute two separate al castings connected together by any suitable m 12, and the same are provided with a handle 13 tor carrying and manipulating the clee The nozzle 8 is made oil a non-abrasive, w-n isting, soit yielding material, which is prei= "y molded rubber, sothat a cleaner equipped cfith euch a nozzle may be used to clean or dust highly polished surfaces Without danger oi marring, denting or scratching the ec rihe lip walls 8c and ab are preferably provided with an internal recess 2e in which. is poE sitioned a strip metal loop 25 for reinforcing; the rubber lip walls against collapse when the cleaner is being operated. A brush 2t is preierably provided on the rear lip wall 8b, by riv-s eti the same at 27 through the wall to the loop 25. A

d, nozzle made oi soft yielding mate, as distinguished from the usum cast al i n: nozzie, cannot damage upholstery in cl am., the same.

In addition, a nozzle made of soft rubber does not have any tendency to dirty, streak, or soil the material being cleaned, as is the case with the usual nozzle made of aluminum. Moreover, the use oi-a molded rubber nozzle enables d cleaners to be attractively made with appe color combinations, which render the same more salable.

And finally, the usual cast aluminum nozzleA must have its outer surface polished, while a molded rubber nozzle is not required to be polished and the same may be made and assembled on a suction -c-leaner fan casing much more inexpensively than a vacuum cleaner having a'polished aluminum nozzle. Y

The improved combined foot rest and cord anchor guard and insulating bushing member generally indicated at 14 is also made of an insulating, non-abrasive, wear-resisting, soft, yielding material, also preferably molded rubber. Such a. rubber foot-rest member cooperates with the rubber nozzle 8 to form a soft, non-abrasive support for the vacuum cleaner fan and motor housing so that the use of the hand cleaner will not subject polished surfaces to the liability of being scratched, dented. marred, or otherwise damaged.

- The particular design of the foot-rest member 14 is important,`and preferably includes a base portion 15 having a cylindrical bushing portion 16 extending upwardly integrally therefrom, the bushing portion being provided with an annular recess 17 adjacent its upper end. A tubular cord guard portion 18 extends outwardly from one side of the base portion 15, the tubular passageway 19 therein .communicating with an enlarged angularchamber or bend 20 provided in the base portion 15 and terminating in a slightly tapered tubular passageway 21 through the bushing portion 16.

'I'heangleAbetweentheaxisofthewbular nordsee y. r- 11 19 and 21 is preferably less than a right angle, while the cross sectional area of the chamber 2U is greater than the cross sectional areas of the passageways 19 and 21, for reasons which will be hereinafter described.

Referring to Fig-.2, the wire cord 22 may be readily inserted through the communicating passages 19, 20 and 21 of the foot-rest member 14 by inserting a free end of the cord wire through the openings in the direction indicated by an arrow in Fig. 2, the chamber 29 being 4enlarged in cross section to 'facilitate inserting the cord wire therethrough. The wire ends may then be suitably connected to the terminals of the motor 5 so that the motor may be operated when a plug connected to the other end of the cord wire 22 is electrically connected to a suitable source of power.

In view of the fact that the member le is made oi' soit, insulating, yielding n'iaterial, the bushing portion 16 thereof may then inserted through an openmg 23 provided in a lower wall of the motor casing e, so that the wall 4 will he resiliently engaged in the annular recess 17 ot the bushing portion 16, as shown. in Fig. 3, in. which the bushing portion 16 is for all practical purposes substantia-ily permanently connected to the motor housing Wall fi, and insulates the wires oi the cord 22 therefrom.

the parte are assembled in the position in Fig. 3, a pull cn the cord 22 in the direc tion. shown by the arrow in caueee the iiex ibly bent portion 22' thereof to snugly hug the relatively 51:.: t upper angular corner 20 of the base member chamber 20.

Since the foot-rest member 14 is formed of a soit, yielding material, and since the angle A is less than a right angle, the cord 22 and angular corner 20 bind each other so as to substantially peently anchor the, cord in the foot-rest member against being pulled out, which would cause the wires of the cord 22 to be loosened from their connections with the terminals of the motor 5.

The walls of the tubularguard portion 18 of the foot-rest member 14 are flexible, but yet thick enough that the cord 22 cannot be sharply ilexed or bent. For these reasons, successive bending or flexing forces to which the cord 22 is always subjected in use will not result in injuring, breaking, wearing through, or short-circuiting the wires thereof at or adjacent the place where it passes through the motor housing wall 4, as may he the case with suction cleaner' cords which are not equipped with the present improvement.

And nally, the non-abrasive and wear-resisting character of the material of which the footrest member 14 is made prevents the same from scratching, marring, or otherwise injuring surfaces over which the cleaner may be passed, and always maintains the metal parts thereof in spaced relation from such surfaces.

I claim:

1. In a hand cleaner having metal motor and fan housing walls, a nozzle member made of soft, yielding material and a foot-rest member made of soft, yielding material, the nozzle and foot-rest members being connected to and projecting from the metal housing walls to provide a non-abrasive support for the cleaner.

2. In a hand cleaner having a metal fan housing and a metal motor housing, a nozzle member made of soft, yielding material connected to and projecting from the metal fan housing and a footrest member made of soft, yielding material conintenso nected to and projecting from thefmetui motor housing to provide a. non-abrasive support for the cleaner.

3. In a hand cleaner having a. metal ian housing ond o metal motor housing, a. rubber nozzle member connected directly to and projectingvirom the ion housing und a, mbber toot-rest member connected to ond projecting from the motor housing to provide a, non-abrasive support for the cleaner.

li. In combination with e hond cleoner lio-ving o housing woll, a. soft rubber foot-rest member connected to und projecting from the 'housing woll, and means on the foot-rest member resiliently connecting it to the housing Woll.

5. In combinution with u hond cleoner having o housing woll. o, rubber toot-rest member hor-,- ing on opening therethrough projecting from the housing woll und provided with un integmi bush ing portion connected tothe housing woll.

o. in combinotion `with u hond cienner boring o housing Woll, o. hollow rubber ioot-rest member connected to ond projecting trom the housing Woll, o nenible cord locoted through the holiorzl foot-rest member und extending to n pince Within the housing, und the iootrest member including o tubuior cord guord portion extending integruiig therefrom through which the cord porees.

'3. in combinntion with o hond cleoner honing o housing woll, n hollow rubber root-rest member projecting irom'the housing Woll provided with on integrin bushing portion connected to the housing Weil, n ilegible cord locoted through the hollow foot-reet member ond bushing portion und extending to u pince within the housing, ond the root-rest member including o tubulor cord guord portion extending integroliy there from through which the cord poseen.,

u. In combinution with n hund cieuner honing o housing poli, n rubber toot-rest member conn nected to ond projecting from the housing rivoli, there being o puesegeuozy through the root-rest member, o nenibie cord eutending through the possogewoy to the interior civ the housing, und

the possogewoy being provided en ocute being o passageway through the rootreot member and bushing and guard'portione thereof, c. Hex-- ible cord extending through the passageway to und there being nn ungulor cord passageway through the ioot=rest member portions. Y

il. n combined one-piece rubber toot-rect vmember und cord onchor, 'guord und bushing for o suction cleu'ner, solid member having u bose portion, o bushing portion extending from the bose portion, und n guurd portion extending from the bose portion ot un ecute. ongle with respect to the bushing portion, und there being on onguior cord possogeuror through the tootrest member portions.

i2. n combined one-piece rubber root-rest member und cord unchor, guord ond bushing for o suction clenner, eoid member honing o.v bose portion, o bushing portion extending trom the buse portion, ond o gourd portion extending from the bosev portion et un ocute ongle with respect to the bushing portion, und there being on ongulo'r cord poeeogewor hoi/ing e verving crous sectionni' orco through the foot-rest member portionsn it. n combined one-piece rubber ioot-reet member ond cord onchor, gunrd ond bushing tor o suction cieoner, seid member-having n here portion, u bushing portion, und n guord through the root-reet member portions und hoving un ocute onguior portion oi eniorged crose eection.

Aifi. in combinotion with u suction cieoner hor ing o houeing o. ooit rubber nodule connected to und projecting from the housing Weit, menno on the interior oi the lip rr/olie ior reinforcing' the lip wolle oi mid nomic ogoinst coilopee, und o lbrush connected to thev exterior one oi' the K lip rrollo und to the reinforcing menne.

iti.. n sort rubber nomic ior o suction cleoner herring iip notie forming n mouth, there being on internet receso in seid lip wolle, menne locoted in mid recentrer reiniorcing the lip troll ogoinst coiiopee, o, brush, und menne connecting the brush to the reiniorcing menno und clomping one oi the lip onlie therebetnem,

hib

rre

lll@ portion, ond there being n cord pnssngeulor' 

